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OBS Virtual Camera

OBS's built in Virtual Camera is a super powerful feature. OBS version 26 introduced Virtual Cam as a built-in feature. OBS version 28 overhauled the control you have with it.

Why Do I Need A Virtual Cam?​

There are two reasons you might need a virtual camera

  1. Multi-Program Windows Camera Problem™️: your camera crashes when used in two programs at once (like OBS and Ping/Discord/VDO Ninja)
  2. You want to use OBS as "webcam" in another app (Ping.gg, Discord, VDO Ninja, etc)

OBS Virtual Camera is ONLY USEFUL OUTSIDE OF OBS. That's the point though - you can bridge the magic of OBS into other programs (like Ping!)

Okay...What Do I Use It For?​

We're going to talk about TWO common use cases - Return Feed and Cam Out (OBS v28 only)

Return Feed​

This is the default - you send out whatever OBS has in it. Great for producing shows w/ your camera taken by OBS, and Virtual Camera used to send it to Ping (or Discord, Zoom, VDO etc). NOT IDEAL if you're a GUEST on someone else's show.

Virtual Cam button

Directly between the "Recording" and "Studio Mode" buttons, you can click "Start Virtual Cam" to send out your main OBS feed as a camera. Whatever you see in the main preview in OBS is now sent out as a camera

Now when you use programs like Ping, you should see "OBS Virtual Cam" as an option

Virtual Cam option in Ping

Camera/Scene Out (OBS v28+)​

By default, OBS Virtual Cam sends out your main feed. As of version 28, you can send out any scene. This is SUPER USEFUL if you're a guest on another show and you're dealing with the Multi-Program Windows Camera Problem™️

tip

If you make a separate, full-screen camera scene and use it as a scene source, you can set that scene as a virtual cam! (trust us this makes things so much simpler)

  1. Click the Settings cog next to the "Start Virtual Cam" button
  2. Change "Output Type" from "Internal" to "Scene"
  3. Select the scene you want to send out!

Output Type setting in OBS